1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to water treatment facilities, and particularly to a wastewater evaporator that evaporates wastewater effluent in a septic system to eliminate or minimize the need for an underground drain field.
2. Description of the Related Art
Homes and businesses in many suburban areas and nearly all rural areas are not connected to a sanitary sewer system, but rely upon individual septic tank and drain field systems. Such septic tank and drain field systems collect wastewater in the tank, and effluents drain out into the drain field where it is absorbed and dissipated into the surrounding soil.
Such septic tank and drain field systems work reasonably well, are reasonably economical, and require little maintenance until replacement is needed, generally after many years of service. However, they require soil that is capable of absorbing all of the liquid introduced into the system, which limits the areas where such tank and drain field systems may be installed. Areas with high water tables and very rocky ground with poor absorption are clearly not suited for such systems, which limits the available areas for new home, business, and industrial construction. Government regulations concerning such installations are ever more restrictive as well, and consideration must be given to the need to avoid contamination of well water.
A number of evaporative systems for water treatment have been developed in the past. An example of such is found in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-156,493, published on Sep. 5, 1984. This reference describes (according to the drawings and English abstract) a sewage system incorporating separate tanks for anaerobic and aerobic bacterial treatment of effluent. The treated effluent is then further pasteurized and pumped into an evaporation tank. An ultrasonic generator is installed upon a float in the tank, to agitate the water surface for greater evaporation.
Thus a wastewater evaporator solving the aforementioned problems is desired.